Whiffletree-hook.



PATENTED APR. 21, 1.908.

J, H. BABE. WHIPFLETREE HOOK.

APPLICATION IILED OCT 8 1907 run: TO-.UIMNMGTON, n. c.

UNITED sTAtpas PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. BABE, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

WHIFFLE TREE-HO OK.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, JOHN H. RABE, a citizen of the United States, and resident of St. Louis, Missouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Whifiletree- Hooks, of which the following is a specification containing a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to a whiffle-tree hook, my object being to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device which is located upon the end of whiflle-trees for fastening the ends of the tugs or traces to the whiffletree; and my present invention being an im- Erovement on a like device patented by me ecember 17, 1889, No. 417,585.

To the above pur oses, my invention consists in certain novel features of construction and arrangement of parts, which will be hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in the claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a perspective view of one of my im roved hooks in position on the end of a whiffle-tree, and the end of the tug or trace being shown in dotted lines; Fig. 2 is a lan view of the hook detached from the wh1ffietree; Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the hook;

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on the line 14 of Fig. 2;.Fig. 5 is a detail section taken approximately on the line 55 of Fig. 2, and showing the osition assumed by the rear ends of the loc (ing fingers when the same are rotated so as to move the outer ends of said fingers into a horizontal position; Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of the locking fingers.

Referring by numerals to the accompanying drawings :--1 designates the body of the hook, which is approximately cylindrical in form, and being open at one end to receive the end of the whiffle-tree 2 and formed integral with the lower portion of the open end of the cylindrical body 1 is a plate or housing 3, which extends beneath the whifile-tree,

1 and being fastened thereto by means of a pin or screw passing through an aperture 4 formed in the end of said housing.

Formed integral with the outer end of the body 1 and projecting outward therefrom is a horizontally disposed lug 5, upon which the end of the tug or trace is engaged when fastened to the whiffle-tree.

Formed through the lower portion of the body 1 is a pair of longitudinally disposed apertures 6, which communicate with the Patented April 21, 1908.

Serial No. 396,508.

chamber in the housing 3; and arranged for rotation in these apertures are the horizontally disposed body portions of lockin fingers 7, the portions outside the body 1 eing bent outward, or a art, as designated by 8, and thence verticall upward, as designated by 9 and these last mentioned vertically disposed ends normally bearing against the sides and outer end of the lug 5. The opposite ends of these locking fingers project into the chamber within the housing 3, and said ends being provided with flat faces 10, which are horizontally disposed relative to the vertically disposed bent outer ends 9 of the locking fingers; and formed in the body portions of the fingers, immediately adjacent the flat faces 10, are notches 11, which are arranged immediately opposite one another, and passing through said notches is a vertically disposed pin 12, which is seated in the body 1 at the point where the housing 3 joins said body.

A pair of flat springs 13 are arranged side by side within the housing 3, the rear ends of which springs are secured in any suitable manner to a lug 14 formed in said housing, and the free ends of these springs bear upon the flat faces 10 on the ends of the fingers 7.

The tug or trace is fastened to the whifiietree after the vertical portions 9 of the looking fingers are swung downward into a horizontal plane, (as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3,) which action rotates the bodies of the locking fingers in the apertures 6; and, when this movement takes place, the free ends of the springs 13 will ride off the flat faces 10, and will bear on the edges of the rear ends of the fingers between the flat faces and the outer surfaces of said fingers, and thus said fingers are held with the portions 9 in a horizontal plane while the tug or trace is engaged upon the lug 5.

After the tug or trace has been properly positioned, the ends 9 of the locking fingers are swung upward into horizontal planes outside the tug or trace, thus preventing the disengagement of said trace from the whiffletree, and the locking fingers are maintained in this position by the engagement of the free ends of the springs 13 on the fiat faces 10.

The locking fingers are held against disengagement or removal from the body 1 by the pin 12 engaging in the notches 11, and said notches are of such length as that the locking fingers can freely rock from one position to another.

My improved whifiie-tree hook is simple in construction and operation, is easily applied to the ends of whiflie-trees, and is very eifect-' ive in maintaining the ends of the tugs and traces in proper position upon the ends of the whifiile-tree.

1. The combination With a Whifile-tree, of a cylindrical body fitted upon and inclosing the end of the whiflie-tree, a lug integral with and projecting outward from the end of the cylindrical body, a pair of locking fingers arranged for rotation in the cylindrical body and adapted to engage against the outerend of the lug, and flat springs bearing upon the inner ends of the locking fingers.

2. The combination with a whiffietree, of a cylindrical body fitted upon and inclosing the end of the whiffle-tree, a lug integral with the cylindrical body and projecting outwardly therefrom, a pair of pins arranged for rotation in the lower portion of the cylindrical body, the outer ends of said pins being bent vertically and adapted to bear against the outer end of the lug, and fiat springs bearing upon the inner ends of the locking fingers.

3. A whiflie-tree hook, comprising a hollow cylindrical body, a lug integral with the outer end thereof, a plate integral with the bottom and inner end of said body, a pair of locking fingers having their horizontal portions arranged for rotation in the cylindrical body, the outer ends of which locking fingers are bent at right angles to the portions oper- JOHN H. BABE.

Witnesses:

- M. P. SMITH,

E. L. WALLACE. 

